Known in the prior art is a package for a flowable product, namely U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,640, granted Oct. 19, 1976 to Sanford Redmond. This patent teaches a package for a flowable product wherein the package includes a relatively stiff, but flexible material and a flexible material between which the flowable product to be packaged is contained and around which flowable product the materials are affixed to each other. The relatively stiff, but flexible material is cut through or partially through in a pattern so as to form at least one tongue and one opening and, when cut through, at least one side of the relatively stiff, but flexible material, at least in the area of the cut pattern, being covered with a sealant, which sealant preferably is a foil, the package, when bent, opening up along the cut pattern to dispense the flowable product from the package. The patent also discloses and teaches the flexible material which is used for making such a package.
One of the disadvantages of this package is the uncontrollable rate at which the flowable material is squeezed and discharged out of the package. Due to its form of construction, there is no control to the flow from the package, and that it does not teach any specific type of packages, such as applicator packages for specific needs in the medical profession. Also, the package of U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,640 does not teach the utilization of a multi-cavity reservoir for storage of the flowable product. With such a multi-cavity applicator package, one can achieve a controllable flow of the product from the package during use. Accordingly, although the prior art package noted herein functions in dispensing a flowable product from the package, it lacks the teaching of specific applicator packages which can be used in diverse applications. Thus, the packages of the present invention overcome the problems heretofore encountered with this prior art package and overcomes the disadvantages, and provides a number of applicator packages which have specific applications, particularly in the medical and veterinarian fields. Other packages for use in still other fields are also disclosed in the instant application.
Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the present invention is to provide an improved package, such as a swab package, embodying a foam applicator pad and a pair of members comprising a backing member of a relatively rigid, flat sheet material adjacent the applicator pad, and a formed material for containing the flowable product in a reservoir formed in said material and captured between said two members. The flat sheet material is provided with a slit or weakened portion in the surface of said material, and the slit or weakened portion is transversely disposed so that upon rupturing it by forcing the opposite ends of the applicator package toward each other about the slit or weakened portion, thereby enabling the contents of the reservoir to be released into the foam pad upon pressure deforming the formed material.
The foregoing object and other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a material part of this disclosure.
The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the preferred constructions hereinafter described, and of which the scope will be indicated by the claims.